Family Life

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How To get a teenager to put down your phone and talk to You ? Jamie Clarke went all the way to Mongolia to find out.

riding through a remote valley in Mongolia on the back of his motorcycle-adventurer Jamie Clarke was the hum of the engine and The Wind echo in his head, while his thoughts wandered.

After several hours he pulled over to his helmet to shake off, and take a look at the map.

This was what he loved about the adventure, the solitude, the landscape and The Feeling of responsibility for their own destiny.

But when his 18-year-old son pulled behind him on his motorcycle, he had a different take on the long journey You just finished.

For him, to be alone in his thoughts was novel and disturbing.

"Oh, my God, that was awful! I can't with the left, my brain is so!"

But that was exactly why the two had decided on this adventure together.

Mr Clarke, a Life -long skier, mountain climber and trekker, felt, had, as he was to lose contact with his son Khobe, who is always on his phone at home in Calgary, Alberta.

He blames himself, in part. He has a smartphone like Everyone Else , and he enjoyed playing with his son on his Blackberry when he was small.

"If someone is looking for, we have today as individuals and as A Family , we (the parents) immortalized it," Mr Clarke told the BBC. "They are cool devices, but we started to feel like they were controlling us and not Vice Versa . "

The question had to come to a head a few years ago, when Mr. Clarke went with His Family to a remote ski Lodge for a weekend in celebration of his 50. Birthday.

The area had no wifi and no cell.

"I had never experienced a weekend without my cell phone, essentially," said Khobe the BBC. "It was very weird for me. "

Khobe known that at the time he was angry that he had to go, and misery, because without Snapchat or Instagram, he had no idea what his friends were at home.

to fix The got his father thought about The Role that had to play in His Family - and about how it.

For a long time he had dreamed of, on a trip through Mongolia on a bike. Now that his son was older, Why Not do it with him?

About a year ago, he hit it on Khobe. It was not an automatic hit.

"I said no, pretty quickly," Khobe said.

"But it has this funny idea... it was something of the preparation that it very was exciting to do it. "

Khobe has been practicing his motorcycle license, and the two longer rides. While his father has climbed the Everest twice, Khobe had never tried to ride a mountain, so he had to practice to.

they left on the 28th of July, and in the course of the next month, traveled More Than 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) across Mongolia by motorcycle, horse, and camel.

Although The Trip was certainly Instagrammable, You apart from the publication of their photos online until after You returned.

Khobe says, away from his phone was a challenge.

"I think the whole time I was consumed quite, missing my phone," he says. "They realize how boring it all gets. When I'm bored, I can just on YouTube, or watching Netflix. What I will do, looking at The Stars and twiddle thumbs?"

But, he says, to know always, his father was Worth It , especially the time You spent away from The Road in their tents or yurts just cooking and bonding.

"I was surprised that when he is away from a work, environment and family, he is perhaps closer to my age," he says.

Also, Mr Clarke was surprised to learn, How To be a grown-up son, if You don't limited to your typical father-and-son-parenting dynamic.

"It helped me to see Khobe in a new way. I saw him as a child, held, dropped his jacket on the table, Cleaning Up the dishes," he says. "And I was able to see him, a young man, and I was impressed with how well he was able to work Under Pressure . "

You don't have to go to all on The Other side of The World , only the bond with their children, says Caroline Knorr, the parenting editor for Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that educates parents on media and technology.

"parents screen can produce-free time-zones in The House throughout the year, but especially around The Holidays ," she says.

she says, try and do Fun Things during the unplugged time, How To play a game, go for a walk, or even watch A Movie .

It is easy to find the best holiday for yourself to reach for your phone, while says You 're lying around the sofa, but Mrs Knorr, it is important to model the behavior You want to adopt their children.

"to communicate what is really important for parents to be, why the valuable. Why it's A Family value, unwired, unplugged time as human beings," she says.

"Say explicitly" I'm turning off my phone, so that we have time for the family'. "

Ms Knorr says it is also important not to demonize technology, or your children for use.

"I think a lot of the time, the parents really care, that 'it is the Medium that will change my kids' behavior,'" she says.

"But what leads to that behavior is a natural normal part of development, where children are always interested in pop culture and not so interested, time with the family. "

This is a natural part of teenagehood is reinforced by social apps like Tik Tok and Snapchat, however, which is designed to users to for as long as possible to earn money from advertising.

"It's a double whammy," Ms says Knorr.

Khobe says "camp Life " was his favorite part of The Trip

Mr Clarke says now that your trip is over, he and his son tried to use some of the lessons You learned to your everyday Life .

"I realize that the technology is valuable and You use it, and he will realize how consuming it is. And maybe we both of us need to remind us who's in Control - You or the app," he says.

Khobe, he says he wants that technology has something that he wants to "do, do".

"If You are in a group of people, and it is for the social interaction of the time, but everyone is on his cell phone, when I tried to change my habits," he says.

"is It rude not to give people your undivided attention. "

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canada, mongolia, parenting

Source of news: bbc.com